Christmas Pictures

Our Christmas Eve started with a SKYPE call to Katie, Jake and Conner. Here Conner is playing with a new toy cell phone



I opened a gift that thrilled me. It was a 2008 calendar which Katie had made. Each month contained pictures of Conner which had been taken in that month of 2007. Katie has mastered the art of "scrapbooking."



Katie made these aprons for us.



Nina made cookies for the kids to decorate. Daniel is ready to decorate some for Santa.



Ellie is ready to go to church.



I have always loved watching children sing in church, so this was a special treat.



I took this picture of Ellie wearing her new backpack, and noticed later that she was eating a candy cane and there were candy canes on her shirt. Click to enlarge.



They frequently play "fireman" so were thrilled with the new rain boots.



It took over 4 hours to open gifts, as they had to try everything out. (That didn't include the SKYPE gift opening, or the huge exchange with Willi and Mary.)How many gifts can you use at once? Spiderman cape, knee pads from the spiderman skates, a new Bronco t-shirt, and let's not forget the shoes, purse, necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets.



Trust me, this was not the only jump of the day!



>Luke and Daniel continued opening gifts in their capes.



>Ellie loved all the accessories.



>She was so fun to watch.


Are you clicking on the pictures to enlarge? They look so much better when they are big.



I bought this shirt when I was in Colorado visiting Katie. I knew Daniel would look good in it, and Eric and Nina would be surprised.



This was one of MANY books under the tree.

It was very, very fun sharing the holiday with children.

Warm Welcome

Jeff called us on Sunday and said he'd been assigned a flight to the United States on Tuesday, and Kitty would be hitching a ride. Larry bought a plane ticket, Eric and Nina bundled the family into the truck, drove for around 14 hours (?) and made it to Spokane, Washington for a brief visit. There were more pictures, and more kids, but Daniel seemed to be the main child participant in the snowball "fight." I just wanted to post a few fun pictures now, and am sure Nina will put some more up on her blog.







"How to Make a Snowball" lesson from Uncle Jeff








Click on the picture for an up close look at all the fun.







Kitty had fun with the kids also..... I think!





Come back again!

Holiday Celebrations Begin

On Thanksgiving, the minute Ellie saw me, she ran to me with open arms and wanted to be picked up. I love that we were both wearing brown.



When they arrived to decorate the Christmas train, Nina noted Ellie and I were in matching colors again, so we took took this picture.



Daniel began unwrapping the candy.



Ellie joined in.



Eat one, put one on the train. Eat one, put one on the train.


Click to enlarge and see their work.


It is hard to get a picture with three active children. Here I'm ready, but Ellie wants to eat the smokestack.


The boys were not happy that she took a piece to eat, until I said, "Who else wants a piece?"
End of photo session. :-)

Cruise to Mexico

Here are a few pictures from our cruise to Mexico. It wasn't the best port of call, :-) but the company was good and we had fun.





























We decided to play Bingo at the last minute. When buying Bingo cards, they gave detailed instructions including how, if you tear off the bingo paper numbers from the cards, it would not count if you won. I made a little comment about hanging chads, but I don't think the person understood me. So, we got to our seats, and the first thing Nina did was tear off the pieces for the free spots. I told her I thought that made the card void, and she had misunderstood the instructions. She ran up and moments before the game began, explained what she had done and was able to get credit for the card and buy a new one. I took this picture after the game as a reminder of the laugh we had.







My luggage never appeared in our room, so after dinner the first night I went to the desk and they said there was a banned object in it. I had to open it in front of security, who promptly took my iron. The next day, while shopping in Mexico, I bought a pinata bat for the grandchildren, since our kids had enjoyed pinatas at so many parties. When we got to the ship, it was confiscated. So it became a joke as to what I would get caught doing next. After the cruise ended, and after going through customs, I was given my property, at which time I had to put it in my luggage for the flight home.







Keeping out of the wind.





QUESTION OF THE DAY:

An elderly woman walked past us and I quietly told Nina how nice I thought her scarf was. It actually had a thread in it that matched her dress perfectly, and looked so warm. We both thought it was pretty. A few minutes later, I left to use the restroom. When I returned, Nina was wearing that woman's scarf!!! How did that happen?

Aloha

I thought you'd like to see a few pictures from our trip to Hawaii.

Click to enlarge.




















Rain Forest "Hike"



Luke Hiding



Traveling with children will always make you smile.



Question of the Day: What movie scene is being recreated here. (We went on a movie location tour.)


Swimming Until Dark


Thinking about you all, wherever you are!